Slice of Bread : Romans 12

May 31, 2012

See Bulletin Board.

Romans 12:

Verses 1-2 are the building blocks of our faith. In the Old testament days a sacrifice was required for repentance of sins. The blood of an animal made atonement for the wrong or sin that was done by an individual. The blood paid the price for the wrong that was done. Because you were paying off a debt in a sense, you had to pay the correct or fair price. For example if a dead animal was offered, that blood was considered worthless, there was no trade-off. If the animal was wounded, weak or sick, that blood would come up short of paying off the debt. God required of the people in those days to offer their best animal, an animal without spot or blemish. The law required a perfect animal to pay back the price of your sin. So now when Paul says that we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, we are to be the animal without spot or blemish. Obviously we are not going to kill ourselves that’s why its a living sacrifice. But for the rest of our lives we are to strive to be that type of offering to God, where our lives are worthy or blameless in the eyes of God. Dont get it confused though, we will always stumble, All fall short; but are you still stumbling on the same sin you did 5 years ago? Or do you still keep doing something you know is wrong? Those are the things we need to be without spot or blemish. Those are the things that need to be removed in order to follow this command from Paul.

Verse 2 is powerful, and all of us can definitely see this in our lives. When you look back at the things you said, or thought, or even did it can be anywhere from deep embarrassment to deeper embarrassment. At least that’s how I feel. When we turn our lives to Christ, the Holy Spirit begins to alter our mindset. We begin to see things through a different pair of glasses if you will. It all starts with our mindset, and as we continue to grow it overflows into actions. As we get stronger it then carries into our family lives. My 13 soon to be 14-year-old daughter likes going to the movies with her friends. But in order for her to go I have to approve of the movie, so I watch the movie trailer, I read up a little about the rating, reviews, who the actors are and so on. The other day she wanted to watch a movie called What to Expect when you’re Expecting. I had already told her she could go with her friends when I realized I didn’t watch the trailer. After I watched it, I was not at peace with her watching it but it really wasnt that bad. I felt bad because she had already committed to her friends and if I said no, her friends would probably think…why not? But I was not at peace with the ideas that this movie portrays to a 13-year-old, so I told her, No; she had to watch another movie. My point here is that I was very tempted to “conform to the behaviors and customs of this world”. But I had to stand on what I believe is good entertainment for my daughters mind, I can’t worry about what people think of my “strictness”. But in order to accomplish this successfully as parents we have to live this also. My wife and I have to be without spot or blemish, so when I try to groom her for that she does not fight me. What areas are you conforming? What areas have you stood your ground? God calls us to live differently, when we live according to the Word of God we will live very differently. But through Christ we have the power to overcome. God Bless All of you in this Journey!